Stranded
by behindthemusic
Summary: Patrick and Teresa get stranded in the middle of nowhere when their car breaks down. But things take a turn for the worse when memories cloud Patrick's mind. Can Teresa help him? Obvious Jisbon. Just a little one-shot, enjoy & review! :) FIRST STORY! Rated T for a little bit of language, is all.


Hello:)

I hope you enjoy my first story! As of this moment, it's a one-shot, but that may change once I get into writing it! Thanks so much for reading & REVIEW! :)

**A/N: I Regretfully Own Nothing**

Stranded

Patrick leaned back in the passenger seat of Lisbon's car and stretched his arms out in front of his body, flexing his muscles. He let out an over-exaggerated yawn, which earned him a scowl from the brunette sitting next to him. He smirked at her in reply; she, however, was not amused. She was far too busy trying to reach Rigsby on the phone.

"_Yes, _Wayne, I _understand_ that we are _literally _in the middle of nowhere. But that's not an excuse to leave us _stranded_ out here!" Teresa practically whined into her cell phone. Patrick's smirk grew into a small smile. Patience never had been one of her better virtues…

"We're probably four hours away from the CBI." She told Rigsby in desperation.

Pause.

"_Six hours?!_ If we're only four hours away, how is it that you can't get us until six hours?"

Another Pause. Teresa rubbed her left temple with her available hand.

"I understand that you're busy, but - fine. Fine. Six hours it is. But not a _second_ later, do you hear me?" She slammed the 'off' button on her phone and let out an irritated sign. She looked to her right, only to see Patrick grinning back at her.

"What?" She said flatly, clearly not in the mood for his games.

He let the smile fade from his face, but it's traces still remained. "Oh, nothing. You just act like being stranded with me is hell on earth."

Teresa closed her eyes. "You read my mind."

"Oh, c'mon now. It'll be fun! We can just sit here by ourselves in the car, in the middle of nowhere, just you and me…" With every word he spoke, Teresa's brow furrowed deeper.

"What did I do to deserve this?" She muttered to herself. What were the odds of her car breaking down right here, right now? She and Patrick truly were miles from society. As if riding five hours to the crime scene with Patrick hadn't been mental torture enough, she was now going to have to spend an additional six with him, broken down alongside the road. She prepared herself for the worst.

Patrick settled back into his seat and closed his eyes, his hands folded across his chest. "Well fine, if you're going to be grumpy, I might as well take a nap."

Teresa snuck a quick peek of him from the corner of her eye. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment as she watched his chest rise and fall, a soft expression upon his face. He really was an attractive man…

_Oh, stop this!_ The logical voice in her head burst out. She shook her head slightly and turned away from Patrick. What was wrong with her? These heart flutters whenever she looked at Patrick were becoming more and more frequent. Surely she didn't have a crush on him, she knew that. It was just that…. She wasn't even sure anymore. She needed a distraction.

_Just concentrate on the time._

_Only five hours, forty seven minutes._

_That's not too bad._

_You can make it through that without having to deal with Jane._

_You can do this._

Next thing she knew, she was shaking Patrick out of his rest.

"I'm bored." She said, suddenly sounding childish. She expected him to smirk at her, for him to ridicule her, but instead, his reaction was unusual and odd. He looked at her, but not _at _her. As though he was looking right through her, reflecting upon something that she could not see. His eyes were filled with a sadness so intense and weighted that it caused her own heart to ache.

"Jane?" She barely managed to whisper his name. There was no reply. Was this truly the man who, mere moments before, had been teasing her? Something was having an effect on his emotions and thoughts, but she had no idea what.

"Patrick." She said a bit louder, yet with the same softness as before. Finally, his eyes met hers, and made a concrete connection. Jane practically jumped, the jovial look returning to his expression and a bit more color returning to his face. Actually, he appeared flushed, as though he was embarrassed and spooked by … whatever had just happened.

"Ah, I'm sorry Lisbon, I must've been in a bit of a daze." He said, clearing his throat. "What was it you wanted?"

Teresa stared at him, wide-eyed. She was still in shock by what she had just witnessed. Never before had she seen a sorrow that intense from the emotions of Patrick Jane, nor a recovery so haste. She was bewildered, to say the least. Something monumental had just occurred, and she couldn't even begin to explain it.

"What…what were you just thinking of?" She choked out. Patrick gave her a confused look, as though he didn't know what she was referring to, but she wasn't stupid.

"Just now!" Teresa explained. "You looked like you saw a ghost!"

Patrick gave a small smile, but it had traces of a secret sadness woven within it. "There aren't any ghosts out here in the middle of nowhere, silly."

Teresa drew her lips into a prim line and gave him a stern look. "Don't mess with me. You're stuck here with me for literally the rest of the day. You don't want to spend it pissing me off."

Patrick gave a small chuckled and turned his body away from her, readjusting. "I was just stating a fact!"

"Jane, don't do this." Teresa pleaded.

"Do what?"

"Shut down and make little of the situation. Something just happened, and it was something serious! What went through your mind just now?" Her emerald eyes were genuinely filled with compassion. Whether she was ready to admit it or not, she cared about Patrick Jane. Probably more that she should care. But then again, love was a crazy thing…

Patrick had his head tilted down, refusing to make eye contact. When he finally raised his deep blue eyes to meet hers, they were pools of sorrow. Although less intense than before, the sadness and desperation in his expression had returned, sending chills down Teresa's spine.

Teresa reached out slowly and laid her hand on his arm. She was dumbstruck, to say the least. The rate at which his emotions changed before her was overwhelming.

"Please tell me. I can help." She whispered, each word she spoke sincere and filled with concern. She wished he only knew how much she truly cared.

Patrick made a disbelieving attempt at a laugh from the back of his throat. He shook his head and looked out the window. Teresa looked down and noticed that she hadn't moved her hand, nor had her moved his arm away. She kept still.

"Really, I –" She went to repeat her previous statement, but Patrick cut her off. His words were short and icy.

"You can't, Teresa."

Her heart felt the blade of a sharp knife stab at it. She frowned.

Finally, after what seemed like decades, she took another approach.

"Did you…have a flashback?"

Patrick closed his eyes. She could tell that tears were building up behind his eyelids.

"I – I'm so sorry, Jane. I didn't realize…" She trailed off, unsure of what to say. Luckily, Patrick began to speak, and he didn't have to say anything quite yet.

"Don't be sorry." He opened his eyes and cleared his throat. He gave her a rather pathetic smile. "You did nothing wrong. My mind just tends to wander at times, is all."

Teresa nodded, unsure of what to say. She wished more than anything that she could take away his sadness and tears and memories.

"Sometimes it's just difficult to block out the strongest of the memories." He went on.

Without much thinking, Teresa blurted out, "What was it? What did you think of?" No sooner did the questions leave her mouth than her hand was covering her mouth. She really needed a new filter…

But Patrick simply smiled at her, some of the sadness leaving his eyes. "Nothing sad, surprisingly. It's not the memory that makes me sad. It's the realization that I'll never make more that hurts the hardest."

Without warning, a few tears slipped from his eyes. He quickly turned away from her, and wiped at his cheeks. "Oh shit, I'm sorry." He sighed, clearly embarrassed. Teresa simply stared at him; never before had she seen Patrick cry. Well, at least not while he _knew_ she saw him. Only twice before had she watched him openly weep: once on the anniversary of his wedding when he thought he was alone in his loft above the CBI, and the second when he stood 'alone' in the hallway, holding a picture he had taken out of his suit pocket that his daughter had drawn for him. She was pretty sure it was Charlotte's birthday that day. Watching Patrick Jane break down was quite a shock (even haunting in a sense), and it was a sight that was not easily forgotten.

Patrick finally removed his arm from underneath Teresa's grasp. Suddenly, her hand felt cold and empty. Patrick got out of the car for a breath of air, mumbling his apologies as her went. Teresa gave him a moment, and she stared at the clock on the dashboard: there were still just under five and a half hours until they were to be rescued. She sighed. She'd already had plenty of emotional excitement for the day.

She knew that Patrick wanted his space to collect his thoughts and emotions, but she felt at loss without him. She got out of the car, and walked across the dusty back road to where she was standing, staring into space. She cared far too much about him to let him handle this on his own.

She stood next to him, and bravely placed her arm around his waist, pulling him into a small half-hug. He looked down at her, giving her an appreciative nod. Moments passed in silence.

Suddenly, he spoke up. "I love her."

"I know." Teresa said, almost immediately. She knew Patrick still loved Angela. It was a fact of life. And it was the reason why she knew she couldn't get any more attached to Patrick that she already had. But that was quite clearly easier said than done.

"And I miss her. Every day."

Teresa nodded. "I know."

"But," Patrick went on. "as much as I love them, I believe they want me to move on. Until recently I've been trying against that. But I'm starting to realize it's not what they want for me. Or what I want for me either."

Teresa took a deep, refreshing breath. "That's a rather profound statement." She noted. "And I'm proud of you for it, Jane, I really am."

Patrick nodded and looked into the distance. "It's beautiful out here in the middle of nowhere."

"It is." Lisbon agreed. She dropped her hand from Patrick's back and held it clasped behind her own back, where it belonged.

More moments of silence passed, although they were not awkward or uncomfortable in the slightest. Finally, Patrick spoke up. "Earlier. In the car. I had a memory of when I first fell in love with Angie. Back when we were just kids."

Lisbon looked up at him, giving him a nod and a small supporting smile to prompt him to go on. She suddenly realized how little she knew about the early life of the man she loved.

"We were both…different. Obviously. We were products of fake psychics and freaks and magicians. But that was all that we knew, so it was our normal. But Angie was different…in another way. She didn't like being in the circus life. She wanted to go out; to 'explore what the world had'. She wanted to be a teacher, you know." Patrick made a small attempt at a smile. "All she wanted was to be a teacher."

"So I told her she could. That _we _could. At first, we were just friends, running off together for emotional support. I told her I didn't want her to venture off into the world alone, and that I wanted to go with her to make sure the 'normal' people of the world treated her right. Really, I was just in love with her and couldn't let her leave me behind."

They both laughed softly, the soft wind whisking their hair and the gentle sun caressing their skin. It was an ideal moment, really, just two friends reminiscing against a picturesque background. Teresa took in every detail, trying to save it perfectly within her memory. She didn't want to ever forget this.

"Anyway, we ran off. Saved up some money we made…maybe took some from our parents too, but that's beside the point. Either way, we made enough to make it by in a little apartment together. Plus once I begin with my entire psychic façade the college debt for Ang became more manageable. We did alright, just the two of us. Not too bad for just a couple of circus freaks."

Patrick stared off into the distance, and Teresa took a moment to study his face. Even in his pain, he was beautiful. She could see past his outward attractiveness, and into his soul. Sure, he was a terrible pain in the ass and gave him headaches daily. But oh, how she loved him.

"You know, it took me three whole years after we first ran away before I even asked her to be my girlfriend. If that's not stupidity, I don't know what is." She smirked, the happiness returning to his eyes again. He turned on his heal and walked down the road, and Teresa followed suit.

"Where are you going?" She fell into step next to him.

He shrugged and smiled straight ahead. "On an adventure, I suppose."

Teresa realized that, just like _that_, their conversation on his memory had ended. She felt…a _difference_. Almost as though a new connection had opened between herself and Patrick. She felt as though they were free to fly and soar and explore. And she knew that he felt it too.

She abruptly stopped in mid-step. Patrick took a few more strides forward before he turned around, and saw her standing still in the middle of the abandoned middle-of-nowhere road. She gave her his trademark cocked smile that she loved so desperately.

"Is the adventure done already?" He said questionably, walking towards her. He came to a stop, mere inches from her.

She smiled back into his sapphire eyes, one eyebrow raised. "Of course not. Our adventure's only just begun."

And Teresa Lisbon, taking a leap of faith, followed her heart.

Her hands reached up, guiding his lips to hers. He held her close in return, his hands placed softly on the small of her back. Months – years even – of secret tension and lust and _love_ were finally released in that one perfect moment. Finally, they broke apart for air, looking deep into each other's eyes. Patrick smiled first, and she reflected it.

And the following five hours of solitude passed by much too quickly.

THE END! :)

**A/N:** I hope you all enjoyed it! I typed it all in one night, loll so sorry for any typos or mess ups! I hope you like it & REVIEW PLEASE! I'm debating a little follow up that reveals more of these little stories between Patrick and his wife, but I don't know. I kinda just like it was a one-shot! Tell me what you think! Thanks so much for reading:) Love, Kelly.


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